Olympics

A skiff of new snow won’t create much in the way of avalanche concerns. It might even help travel conditions in some areas. Plan for extra time to deal with the variable, and sometimes challenging, snow surfaces.

The Olympics should pick up a healthy dusting of snow Thursday night. Maybe even an inch! After this impressively long stretch of dry weather, we’ll take whatever we can get. Sure the wind might whip the new snow into a tiny thin slab or it could produce golfball size rollerballs in the sunshine. In all cases, this shouldn’t amount to any real hazard and we’ll continue with “generally safe avalanche conditions.”

Instead, travel difficulties take top billing. Expect variable surfaces that may require a bit more time and/or skill to navigate. While you may find any number of snow surfaces out there, there is a bit of a pattern to the madness. On southerly slopes, firm icy surfaces typically exist. These likely won’t soften much with the cold temperatures on Friday. In shaded terrain, breakable crusts and disconnected pockets of recycled powder are often found. The most challenging conditions exist in the trees where very firm, irregular surfaces resemble a frozen coral reef. Maybe the dusting of new snow will make all of these firm slopes a bit softer. 

At the moment, there aren’t many concerns in the snowpack. On Thursday NPS rangers confirmed the firm slopes on sunny aspects and near ridgelines. In shadier areas, the cold temperatures have caused the upper snowpack to weaken. Breakable crusts and several inches of facets sit atop a much more stout New Year's crust about 8-10 inches (20-25cm) below the surface. Sadly, the sunny and occasionally warm weather has taken its toll on the lower elevation snowpack. Expect plenty of exposed obstacles, open creeks, and large patches of bare ground.